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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24314488">After the Beep</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackinkedbs/pseuds/blackinkedbs'>blackinkedbs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:54:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24314488</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackinkedbs/pseuds/blackinkedbs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>the best thing to do late at night is call someone you haven't spoken to in months and tell them everything on your mind... even if they don’t pick up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>After the Beep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I always like uploading my one shot here and on twitter just in case I deactivate my account one day. FYI in this one Gina is a junior, Ricky is a senior. Bold text is Ricky, Regular text is Gina, Italics is other things. Hope you enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>[</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ring...Ring… Ring...]</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Hey you’ve reached Ricky’s phone, but unfortunately not Ricky himself. He’ll call you back at some point in the near future. Leave your message for him after the beep. Later skater!</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I see you still haven’t changed your voicemail greeting. Oh, by the way this is Gina. I don’t know if you remember me. I mean it’s only been a few months, but honestly, I don’t think you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> to remember me. I wanted to forget about you too, but I just couldn’t. Your face wouldn’t leave my mind, no matter how much I tried. I guess that’s why I’m calling you tonight— more like early morning because it’s three am here in New York. Oh yeah, I never told you this, but my mom made us move to New York. I remember you always said the city and I would be a good match. Of course you were right. Even if I don’t want to admit it, you always were about those kinds of things. It bothered me so much that you knew me so well. I’ve never had anyone like that in my life: someone that I could talk to about anything and would love and understand me unconditionally. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I really wish I wasn’t so cold to you before I left. I wish I would’ve told you. I know you would’ve been there to comfort me. I know you would have talked to me every single day after my move, but I didn’t even let you get the chance. I guess I was scared: scared of what would happen when I left; scared the possibility of hurting you; scared of how much it would  hurt me. As much as I love the city, I’d rather be with you and the rest of our weird friends in Salt Lake City. If I never had to move, maybe— actually, I know things would be different if I didn’t have to move again. I wish I didn’t have to live a life of disappearing. I wish Salt Lake could be my home. Maybe in some alternate universe, instead of moving, I stayed with the Caswells. We would get to keep doing our dumb shit: our movie nights, our bake-offs, or our random drives to nowhere. I would get to watch you dance along to the worst music, fall asleep in English, write your really good songs, and sing your heart out in East High’s next show. This is my weird way of saying I’m sorry—- for everything. Both of us were never really good at apologies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Remember when we were baking and you got icing on your nose and we had a food fight because I didn’t tell you had  icing on your nose? Or that time you practically begged me to add jazz hands into the choreography for the show? What about the time you insisted on writing a song about me? I can’t forget about the time where you held my hand and said we were going to be there for each other </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh right! There was one other minor thing I forgot to mention: I think I’m in love with you. I know, hearing this so all of a sudden, you might think I’m drunk, but I promise, I’m not. It’s something I’ve thought about for a while, but never fully realized it until after I moved. It was the reason for moving away from you was so hard. Why I wanted to pull myself away from you instead of pull myself closer. It was easier to pretend my feelings for you weren’t real. I thought it wouldn’t hurt as much. Ultimately, it just made everything a lot stronger: the love and the pain. I wish I had known all that sooner. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Don’t worry about returning this call. I know you’re busy worrying about prom, graduating, and all other sorts of senior activities. I know your life is great, maybe even better off without me. It was nice to get this off my chest and talk to you, even if  through a voicemail. If it’s not obvious already, I miss you. So much. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Goodnight Ricky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I love you.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>[</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gina hangs up the phone</span>
  </em>
  <span>]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Days Later…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>[</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ring...Ring...Ring</span>
  </em>
  <span>]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hi, you have reached the voicemail inbox of Gina! Unfortunately, she is not available at the time, but she will call you back later! Please leave your message after the beep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Hey Gina, I got your message. It was really good to hear from you. Call me back when you get the chance… there are a few things I want to say to you too. Don’t worry, I’m not drunk either.</b>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!  I remember saying to myself I was just going to write one one shot then I kept writing more. Oops! We'll see if I keep going in the future. Or if I write a whole long au or fic someday. Stay tuned possibly :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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